Kevin Deyoung Store Visit - Reflections

We were honored to have Kevin DeYoung in the store last night. This was Kevin's second visit with us and it was a delight to have him. He talked briefly about his latest book Just Do Something which addresses the ever popular subject of the how to know the will of God. Kevin said the Scripture describes the will of God in two ways: 1) the will of decree which is what God sovereignly wills and 2) the will of desire which are his commands. What he does not see is the "will of direction." This is the plan that God has for each of us and that he means for us to discover. This aspect of the will of God in the traditional "bulls eye" view of the will of God is wholly lacking. At the end of the day the traditional view really can't offer any objective criteria for knowing the will of God. It is nothing more than a "chain of subjectivism." In the traditional view "we want to know the future instead of trusting him who holds the future." One point really struck home with me. When Kevin was invited to another church to be the senior pastor he said he "prayed about it." So what did he pray? It wasn't for guidance. He asked God to keep him humble in the face of becoming a "senior" pastor. He asked God to keep him from fear of failure. These were the sorts of things he prayed and when he finally made his decision (not made independently of his wife he was sure to add) it was his decision. He accepted responsibility for that decision. There is both freedom and wisdom in this approach to knowing the will of God. I encourage you to read Kevin's book. It is a great gift for high school graduates or for anyone who is struggling to know how to understand this issue. You can see more of Kevin at his blog DeYoung, Restless and Reformed.